Deadline: 24-Mar-22
The European Commission is accepting proposals to engage with and activate municipalities and regions to protect and restore soil health.
Scope
- In line with the European Green Deal priorities, with the European Commission’s commitment to democracy and equality, and the role that Horizon Europe Missions play in engaging citizens in R&I activities dealing with grand societal challenges, the successful proposals will involve and activate local, and regional (when applicable) authorities to co-design strategies and actions for the protection and restoration of soil health with citizens and stakeholders, including through social innovation. The successful proposals should contribute to the soil mission specific objective soil literacy.
- The main objective of this topic is to create spaces and practices for regional and local dialogues on soil health and land management, in order to develop a shared understanding of the nature of the challenges and co-create public (including policy response) and private solutions for the protection and restoration of soil health.
- Creating effective and societally desirable ways of changing land use to achieve soil health outcomes will necessarily be locally specific, dynamic and allow for co-design, co-implementation and co-assessment with citizens and relevant stakeholders to make solutions more aligned with societal needs, values and expectations and ensure longevity.
Funding Information
The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:
- public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
- cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).
Expected Outcomes
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- increased and more structured dialogue on soil health challenges and solutions at regional and local levels with involvement of a large number of stakeholders and citizens with balanced representation of interests leading to the co-creation of public (including policy response) and private solutions, in coherence with existing EU strategies;
- substantially increased awareness and understanding of the value of soils and soil health challenges and their drivers (both bio-physical and socio-economic dimensions) across Europe;
- increased cooperation between public and private actors, co-implementing solutions aimed at the protection and restoration of soil health;
- more effective exchange of experiences between municipalities and regions across Europe, sharing effectively experiences through an established forum or other mechanisms, also in view of making best use of opportunities for sustainable soil managements provided by European Funds.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
- eligible non-EU countries
- countries associated to Horizon Europe
- low- and middle-income countries
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3Fn9lu9